Noelier clamped his mouth shut. Seeing how dejected he looked, I wanted to offer even a little comfort.
Then, a good idea came to me.
“Noelier.”
At my call, he slowly raised his head. I cautiously reached out my hand.
My hand rested on his black hair. As the cold left, heat flowed into my body.
His red eyes trembled slightly.
"You said it would be okay if I did this last time."
"..."
"You looked unwell. You also mentioned earlier that you had a fever..."
"..."
While I was making excuses of my own, he didn't say a word.
I guess you don't really like being touched as you please?
"I'm sorry if I was rude."
I quickly pulled my hand away. Then he shook his head vigorously.
"No, I don't dislike it at all."
"Then..."
Are you asking for more?
As I nodded, he spoke with a slightly flushed face, as if gathering his courage.
"...Can you touch me more?"
"...!"
"Please. It feels good whenever Eve's hand touches me."
I barely managed to hold back the swear words that were about to burst out.
Everything he spat out was a jumble of my tastes.
"As expected, this man is too dangerous!"
Every time I saw him, my wolf instincts surged. It felt as if my ears were about to pop out at any moment.
'Let's not forget. Female-dominant, male-submissive novels!'
I steeled myself while thinking of the original novel.
This novel is a fairy tale. It must absolutely not be bleak...!
As I hesitated, he leaned his upper body toward me again. I reached out again and gently stroked his head.
His hair slipped softly through my fingers. As if pleased by my coolness, Noelier's face relaxed even more.
He was chillingly cold when expressionless, but when he smiled, he looked just like an angel.
A single angel, not the dragon, the enemy of the wolf.
"Are you feeling a bit better now?"
"..."
He nodded silently at my question.
Thinking that this was enough, I withdrew my hand. A fleeting look of regret crossed his face. It was just as I was wondering if the coldness of my body suited him well.
The wind suddenly blew fiercely. A chill rushed in from the strong gale, and I hunched my body.
Noelier closed his eyes and felt the wind, as if the blowing breeze were refreshing.
White skin that blends well with the winter forest, contrasting black hair, deep red lips, a face slightly relaxed as if at ease, and closed eyes.
As expected, he had a perfect appearance. It was around the time I was staring at him blankly.
Suddenly, I saw a shirt unbuttoned up to the chest. The hem was flapping wildly in the wind.
Even so, huh? I'm a beast, you know. I'm going to get punished, seriously.
Hiding my ulterior motives, I approached him. He flinched and looked down at me.
I looked up at him as I held the collar of his shirt, which was fluttering in the wind.
"Button this up."
"...Ah."
"First of all, why did you unbutton this? Earlier, really..."
I was about to laugh off what had just happened. I looked up to meet his gaze and flinched in surprise.
The distance between us was closer than I thought. I met Noelier's eyes.
The red eyes facing me trembled slightly. And not long after, Noelier's face began to turn bright red.
"Th-this... this, I mean..."
I followed his lead with a blank expression. Noelier, who had hurriedly stepped away from my side, straightened his clothes and bit his lip tightly.
"..."
He straightened his clothes as if his shame had been exposed and lowered his head to the floor.
"It's because it's hot. Absolutely. It's absolutely not because I'm shy... It's because we're too close..."
"..."
"And, I know this isn't to your taste... But I'll try. At least so I don't turn red..."
Noelier rambled on with disorganized words.
Watching him, I covered my mouth once again.
The wolf's howl, which I had forcibly suppressed, was ringing loudly in my head.
Mom, Dad, what should I do?
I met my ideal type for the first time... and it's a dragon..
***
06. Ideal type
The children were in the middle of having a blast sledding. Since Zion had pushed Rachel earlier, it was now Rachel's turn.
"Ruby, Ruby."
"..."
“Ruby.”
However, Rachel merely glanced at where Eve and Noelier were and did not push the sled.
Thanks to that, the sled's movement came to a sudden stop.
"Seriously. What are you doing?"
Zion stood up from his seat, grumbling softly. However, Rachel put her index finger to her lips as if to tell him to be quiet for a moment.
At the end of that gaze was his sister and Noelier.
Noelier blushed bright red and didn't know what to do, while Eve blushed and just gaped.
Rachel clenched her fist and muttered in a sigh.
“....That’s it.”
"Yes?"
"That was it...!"
"...Ruby?"
It wasn't a hyena!
Holy idiot!
Slam!
Rachel slapped her forehead hard. Zion flinched at the sound, which was harsher than when his older sister scolded him.
Rachel stared intently at Eve and Noelier without even glancing at her swollen forehead. Her red eyes sparkled with intelligence.
"...Ruby?"
"Now all you have to do is cry! How do you cry? Should you hit yourself? A whip, yes, you need a whip!"
"...Ruby, you're weird."
Zion recoiled with a frightened look on his face.
It was Ruby's turn this time, but Zion mumbled softly as if sulking.
However, Rachel was so engrossed in observing Eve and Noelier that she could not hear Zion's words.
Zion wanted to keep pestering to play, but he felt like he would get scolded if he did.
"...Never mind. I'll do it myself."
Zion pouted and led the sled somewhere.
Neither ny older sister, nor my older brother, nor Ruby. None of them care about me. So I'm going to play by myself.
Thinking this, Zion stepped out of the lake. It was in the exact opposite direction from where Eve, Noelier, and Rachel were.
'I can play well by myself.'
It was just as Zion, having set the sled down to one side, was taking a step toward the snowy path.
"Uh?"
Something buried in the snow came into Zion's view. Zion approached it.
A deep red gem, contrasting with the white snow, was showing off its presence wildly.
"Wow..."
Zion let out a quiet gasp of admiration. The shimmering color was just like the color of Rachel and Noelier's eyes.
Zion picked it up. As he held it carefully in his hand, a wave of intense heat spread throughout his body.
Warm!
Zion opened his eyes wide in surprise.
My older sister would love this if I showed it to her!
It was then that Zion, having thought that, was about to retrace his steps.
Rustle.
Someone appeared from behind the tree facing them. The body that was about to move froze abruptly. Zion blinked his big eyes.
"Uh..."
"Hi?"
A man in a red cloak smiled faintly and waved his hand toward Zion. He was a man who resembled a snake.
" ...Who are you?"
Zion recoiled as if on guard. Then, the man resembling a snake grinned and waved his hand again.
"I’m not a bad person.”
“...Then who are you?”
"Hmm, just a passerby?
The man shrugged his shoulders as he said that. His smiling face resembled the drug addict he had seen in the square.
Zion hesitated and stepped back.
"...My older sister told me not to talk to other people."
"Yes?"
That's pretty thorough.
The man answered with an indifferent expression.
...He's a strange person, as expected.
The man looked like a villain he had seen in a book. His upturned eyes looked fierce, and above all, his smiling face was chillingly creepy.
Besides, he was huge. He was similar to Noelier, but somehow different.
'I was told to watch out for people with strange smiles.'
Eve had said many times since childhood that such a person might devour him someday because they had a clear purpose.
'I have to go back. To my sister.'
Zion looked at him with a frightened face and cautiously stepped back. Then the man made a fuss and waved his hand.
"I'm telling you, I'm not a weird person."
“...I don’t believe it.”
"Oh well, I guess it can't be helped."
The man shrugged his shoulders as if he had done a favor and took off the hood of his cloak.
His hair was red like a cloak. However, as he gave a light wave, the color began to change little by little from the tips.
Zion opened his eyes wide.
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